Circular rib knitting machine and method of operating same



Feb. 20, 1940. -m 2,191,389

CIRCULAR RIB KNITTING MACHINE AND METHOD OF OPERATING SAME Filed April 11, 1959 '2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR ROSCOE HILL BY HIS ATTORNEYS Feb. 20, 1940. R. 1-||| 2,191,389

CIRCULAR RIB KNITTING MACHINE AND METHOD OF, OPERATING SAME Filed April 11, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ROSCOE HILL BY HIS ATTORNEYS Patented Feb. 20, 1940 PATENT OFFICE CIRCULAR BIB KNITTING MACHINE AND METHOD OF OPERATING SAME Roscoe Hill, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, assignorto Scott & Williams, Incorporated, Laconia, N. H., a corporation of Massachusetts Application April 11, 1989, Serial No. 267,290

V 6 Claims.

This invention relates to circular rib knitting machines and methods of manipulating same, and more particularly .to such machines when equipped in the dial with independent. latch I needles. These needles may be the compound needles such for exampleas disclosed in the Robert W. Scott Patent No. 1,641,101, dated August 30, 1927.

One object of my invention is to produce--rib 1| dial independent latch needle hosierymachines adapted to make ribbed instep hosiery. The invention is an improvement on the ribbed instep machine of the Robert W. Scott Patent No.

1,641,554, dated September6, 1927. It will be 1' shown embodied in the half hose machine of the Scott Patent No. 1,641,101.

It is desirable to knit seamless hosiery from top to toe in order to have a selvage edge or a turned welt at the topof the stocking, and in the case U of ribbed hosiery it is especially desirable to knit from top to toe because the present day machines for knitting from toe to top have a greater number of wales in the ribbed fabric than in the plain fabric. Thisisnot true of ribbed I goesiery made on machineswhich knit from top to An object of my invention is to produce a machine whose manipulation of the needles during transfer in the making of ribbed instep U-hosiery is such that perfect goods can easily be produced. It is characteristic of my invention that the special manipulations necessary to prevent transfer on the instep dial needles when transferring loops from the heel dial needles to il-the cylinder needles, in no way affect' the portions of the instep dial needles on which loops are being carried at that time. Thus the applicant manipulates the castoif or transfer element so that it does not take the stitch from Q the stitch-drawing element.

The invention will be shown and describedin connection with the two-part or compound needle shown in the Scott Patent 1,641,101, above-mentioned. h In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a schematic plan view of certain of the dial cams and needles of a machine of the well known Scott 8: Williams revolving needle cylinder type adapted toknit ribbed instep.

50 stockings from top to toe in accordance with my invention, the arrows showing the direction of movement of the dial needles; 1

- Fig. 2 is a vertical view in enlarged section through one side of the dial, taken on the line ll 2- -2 of Fig. 1, showing the hook of an instep dial needle ready to give up its loop to the castofl, but the latter so advanced ahead of its normal time of movement that it cannot'take the loop from the hook;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, taken on the 5 line 3-3 of Fig. 1, showing a later stage of the manipulation of an instep dial needle when transferring from the heel dial needles, the hook being shown retracted with the loop in it instead of in the notch adjacent'to the point n t of the castoff as in normal transferring;

Fig.- 4 is a view in side elevation of the dial and associated parts, showing the elements for controlling the special transfer cam for' the instep castoifs; while Fig. 5 is a plan view of the dial and control elements shown in Fig. 4., a

In the ordinary revolving needle cylinder hosieryknitting machine the needle butts are shorter on the heel side of the cylinder than on the instep side for the purpose of facilitating the manufacture of heels and toes. This fact has been taken advantage of heretofore in obtaining transfer of loops from dial needles on the heel side without simultaneously transferring loops, from dial needles'on the instep side. This was done by allowing all the dial needles to passthrough the transfer cams while varying the manipulation of the instep dial elements carrying loops sufilcientlyto make transfer of their loops so ineffective. In transferring a loop from a twopart dial needle to a cylinder needle in a modern rib hosiery machine, it is customary for the hook portion of the needle to 'give up its loop to the castofi portion of the needle, and the castoif -85 portion in turn presents the loop to the cylinder needle. This transfer from hook to castoif requires accurate timing'of the movements of the two parts, and owing to the necessity that these same two parts at other times must perform or- 40 dinary knitting of rib stitches, the timing and positioning of the parts in this transfer operation must be accurate. The improvement thereon heretofore referred to consisted in withdrawing the hook of the dial needle from the posi- 46 tion in which the castoff could take the loop prior to the time when the castofi would normally take the loop from the hook. Since the cam which brought the hook to this presentation position must be the same one vwhich brings the heel 'dial needle hooks' to presentation position to cause effective transfer of these loops, the amount oftime available toretract the hook on the instep side before the-castoifs are pushed out to take the loops away from the hook is quite ferent.

short. The difference in position between effective and ineffective transfer therefore is slight, speaking in terms of linear distance. Furthermore, the necessary moving of the loop down into the hook proper of the hook portion is retarded by the proximity of that loop to the preceding stitches which are still on the upper edge or shank of the hooks. If one stitch on the instep side should be caught by the castoff it would be broken, thereby spoiling the stocking. All these difliculties are avoided by my improved arrangement of the cams and manipulation of the dial needles; i

In the embodiment shown in the drawin s I have illustrated two-part needles comprising hook portions 0. and castoifs b operated independently of each other in a radial direction to cause knitting or transfer of rib stitches to the cylinderare unchangedfrom that of the Scott Patent.

1,641,101, but the cams in the dial for manipulating the hook and castoff are different and the manipulation of the twoparts is also dif- The manipulation of the cylinder needles is unchanged. It should be understood that any two-part needle may be used in the dial.

In the machine of the Scott Patent 1,641,101,

castofl b being the radially outer of the two.

The dial needles corresponding to the heel of the stocking have low butts. and the dial needles corresponding to the instep side have high butts.

The high butts of the instep needle hooks are designated in the drawings .by the reference character 11. 9, and the high butts of the castofis on the instep side are designated by the character n The cap D of the dial D which is shown schematically in Fig. 1, is hollowed out to form a broad, concentric groove, as usual,the

operating butts of both castoffs and hooks lying in this broad groove and being operated by the edges thereof as well as by the cams lying between the two edges of the groove. The cams l0, l2, l3 and H are the usual ones for causing knitting,

as shown and described in detail in the Scott Patent 1,641,101. It will not be necessary torefer further to these in this specification other' than to say that the cams l2 and I3 are for pushing out the castofis and hooks respectively, prior to receiving yarn for the new stitch. It might be noted that when the hook part of the dial needle has ridden up cam l3, the previous dial loop will have slipped up on the upper edge of the shank of the hook member until it is in position to-be entered by'the inner or rear point 12.

of the castoff. The cam i4 is a fixed separator cam. The cam I0 is for operating on both the hooks and the castofls after the new yarn has been taken, the point H operating on the castoffs.

Turning now to the canis involved in the transfer operation, we find that the machine contains the usual transfer cam It for pushing out the permanent cams l8, I9 and a movable cam 20.

- cial cam 20 is movable vertically in a slot 629 raised position.

hook it of the dial needle to efiect transfer, and the transfer cam I! for retracting the hook after the loop has been taken by the castofi I). These two cams are supported in a block and operated by a lever, in the same manner as shown in Fig. I 17 of the Scott Patent 1,641,101. These two cams are manipulated as in that Scott patent,

II The fixed cam it! merely holds the hooks a of the dial needles in their retracted position'until it is time for the pushout cam IE to operate on them, while the fixed cam l9 located at a point subsequent to the movable cam 20 assists that cam 20 in performing its operation. Its inner edge prevents the castoffs from being carried out prematurely by friction between them and the hook portions when the hook portions are protruded by cam Hi. This special cam 20 is so located in a notch on the outer side-of the fixed cam i8 that it serves to push outwardly-at a point, in advance of the pushing out of the hooks by the cam l6all the castoifs which have high operating butts 11 It delivers those high operating butts to the fixed cam H! which, in the embodiment shown in the drawings, pushes the castoffs out a little further and then holds them in that outward position until the needles are opposite the outer edge of the regular transfer cam IJ. The outer edge of cam I1 is so located as to maintain the castoffs in this outer position until they pass beyond the cam and engage the outer edge of the broad groove. This spe- 0 through the dial cap D, which cap and dial are supported on the'dial spindle d. The cam is carried by a bracket 525 movable vertically on a stationary rod 630 above the dial cap D, and there is a compression spring 621 on this rod 630 tending to keep the bracket and cam in The bracket and cam are lowered by a lever 626 overlying the cam and operated from cams on the main pattern drum I 20 (see Patent 1,641,101). The extent to which this cam can be'raised is adjustably fixed by a limit stop 628 carried on a post on the dial cap D'. The maximum degree of insertion of this cam brings it into contact with the high operating butts of the instep dial needles only it cannot be inserted to a level where it will contact the low butts ofthe heel dial needles. I

As can be seen in Figs. 2 and,3, the hook part a of the dial needle has an upper edgen" and the hook 11." itself is bent backwardly so that the point thereof is slightly below the upper face or edge of the shank. The ledge on the lower edge of the castoif 11 contacts the upper edge 11." of the shank and the points n and 1:. of the castoiI, which face rearwardly and forwardly respectively, just clear the top of the hook n There is an arcuate face n in back of the rear pint n" of the castofi, which may be termed the throat of the castoff, and the forward or outer point Assuming that thefabric is being knit from top to toe and that a point just-prior to the heel has been reached at which it is desired to cease the making of ribbed fabric on the'heel side, but that it is desired to continue the knitting of ribbed fabric .on the instep side, the method of manipulation in accordance with 'my invention will be as follows. The cams l6 and I1 are lowered by their controlling elements in response to a cam on the main pattern drum until those two cams will operate on the high butt dial needles. This occurs while the low butt dial needles are passing under the cams. Simultaneously with the introduction of cams l6 and H the special cam is lowered by its lever 626 until it also is in position to operate on the high butts. It is noted that cam l6 operates on the high butt n of the hook part a of the instep needle, cam 20 operates on the high butt n of the castoif b of the instep {points n? dialneedle, while cam l1 functions with regard to both the hooks and castofis of the instep dial needles. Cam 20 pushesthe castofis out while the hooks a are heldin by the inner side of stationary cam l8. This brings the castoffs out to the position shown in Fig. 2, where the transfer are radially outside the cylinder needles n. This is in advance of the time when the castoifs would normally be projected this far. Shortly thereafter the regular transfer'cam l6 projects the hooks a at the regular time, and the loop 7 rides up out of the hook n of the part a to the position shown in Fig. 2, where it is in the throat or arcuate portion n of the castofl and behind the transfer point 113. This brings all the parts to the position of Fig.2, and it will be noted that the castoff cannot pick up the loop 7 In this way eiIective transfer has been prevented without in any way disturbing the normal transfor operation of the parts of the machine on which the loops are located. 7

As rotation of the machine continues, the hooks d. are drawn in by the inner side of cam l1, and the spring bands on the sinkers, aided by a spring-pressed cam, push the fabric so that the loops ride down into the hooks n". The inner end of cam I! does not extend as far inwardly as usual so that the point of the hook n of part a is not drawn far enough inwardly to cast off the loop in case of possible failure of the spring band or spring-pressed cam to push the loops down into the hooks n before the needles reach cams l2 and I3 where the needle parts start outwardly to receive new yarn. When the middle of the high butt or instep group of dial needles is under the cams l6, l1, these two cams are pushed in all the way so that when the low butts reach them they will transfer their stitches to the cylinder needles in the usual way.

Cam 2!) is removed when the low butt needles are being operated to transfer their stitches by cams l6 and I1. Cams l6 and II are raised part way when the high butt instep needles are being operated during the following or a succeeding revolution to miss the low butt needles and are raised all the way when the: low butt needles are under them. At the same time that cam 20 is removed cams l0 and I2 are operating the high butt needles and are raised part way so that the low butt needles will not be advanced to knit after being transferred.

Cams I II and I! are removed during the heel and again insertedpart way to operate the high butt needles to make ribbed fabric in the instep. during the foot, the sole being plain fabric, until the ring toe is reached. At this point cams l6 and flare inserted, i. e., lowered, until they are normally early.

in line with the high butts, at which time they transfer the high butt stitches to the cylinder needles.

It will be noted that in accordance with this invention I have given special manipulation to an element which has noloop on it at the time of the manipulation, and that the special movement is merely to move the castoff radially out- 1. In a circular hosiery rib knitting machine,

independent cylinder and dial needles and means to transfer loops from dial to cylinder needles,

each dial needle comprising a plurality of por-' tions movable relatively to each other, the loop being on one of the portions of the dial needle at the beginning of the transfer operation, in

combination with means adapted to vary the time of movement of portions which are free of loops of one or more of the dial needles to prevent presentation of the loops of such dial needles to the cylinder needles.

2. In a circular hosiery knitting machine, independent cylinder and dial needles and means to transfer loops from dial to cylinder, each dial needle having two parts, the loopbeing transferred from one portion to the other by relative I movement therebetween and thence to the cylin-' der needle, in combination with means advancing the time of loop taking from one dial needle element to the other so as to make transfer impossible.

3. In a circular rib knitting machine, independent cylinder and dial needles, cam means to cause transfer of loops from dial to. cylinder needle, each dial needle having two parts and the cam means causing transferfrom one part to the other by relative movement between the two parts and thence to the cylinder needle, in combination with auxiliarlycam means adapted to prevent transfer of the loop from one part of the dial needle to the other by giving it the loop taking movement abnormally early.

4. In a method of operating a circular rib knit- ;ting machine having two-part dial needles, the

method of causing transfer of dial stitches to cylinder needles on some of the needles only which comprises p'assing all the dial needles through transfer operations while varying the movement of the non-loop carrying parts of certain of the dial needles sufliciently to prevent effective transfer on those needles.

5. In a method of operating a circular rib knitting machine having two-part dial needles. with castoff and stitch-drawing elements, the method of causing transfer of dial stitches to cylinder needles on some of the needles only ,which comprises passing all the dial needles through transfer operations while causing the castofi elements of certain of the dial needles to miss their transfer by making their transfer movement ab- 6..In a circular rib knitting machine, a cylinder and a dial, independent latch needles in said cylinder and dial needles in said dial, each 75 comprising a hook and a. castoif movable relatively to each other, cam means adapted. to cause said castofis to present their loops 'to the cylinder needles for transfer, in combination with operating butts of two heights on said, castofis and a special cam movable into operative relation with the high butt castofl's only adapted 'to cause projection of each high butt castoff abnormally early beyond the position 'for taking the loop from the hook whereby the castoffs are prevented from taking their loops from the hooks.

ROSCOE HJLL. 

